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DIG DIRECTOR
Stan Goff is a retired veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces. During an active-duty career that spanned 1970 to 1996, he served with the elite Delta Force and Rangers, and in Vietnam, Guatemala, Grenada, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Somalia and Haiti.
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Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in AmericaA Dig led by Stan GoffAuthor Stan Goff, a retired 26-year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces, sounds a warning call that many of the historical precursors of fascism—white supremacy, militarization of culture, vigilantism, masculine fear of female power, xenophobia and economic destabilization—are ascendant in America today. When I was 18, before student tracking in the public schools had been formalized, an informal tracking system was nevertheless in place: the university track, the craft track, the poultry worker track, and the prison track. I was somewhere between the last two. Both my parents were working in a defense contractor factory, and I was left adrift in the factory-worker ’burbs to be trained by television and alcohol. Raised on a curriculum of McCarthyism, I did the most logical thing I could think of to avoid both the factory and eventual incarceration with the ne’er-do-wells with whom I was keeping company. I joined the Army, and volunteered to fight communists in Vietnam. I tried to get out of the Army once, and it lasted for four years, whereupon I ended up doing piecework in a sweatshop outside Wilmar, Ark. Back on that public school track, I suppose, but given that the U.S. was no longer invading anyone’s country, and that I was responsible for an infant now, I went back into the Army. One thing led to another, and as it turned out I was good at something called special operations, and I ended up making a career of it. By the time I signed out on terminal leave in December 1995, I had worked in eight places designated “armed conflict areas,” where people who were brown and poor seemed to be the principle targets of these “special” operations. At some point toward the end, I had decided that plenty of people could look back and say they wished they’d lived differently; and I was just one of them; and that I might salvage something worthwhile from the whole experience by telling the people who had paid me—people who pay taxes—what their money was really being spent to do. Among other activities, I started writing books. The Bad Apple There was nothing more inflammatory in my first book, about the 1994 invasion and occupation of Haiti, than my assertion that Special Operations was a hotbed of racism and reaction. “Hideous Dream - A Soldier’s Memoir of the US Invasion of Haiti” (Soft Skull Press, 2000) was my personal account of that operation, and I was explicit not only about the significant number of white supremacists in Special Operations but how the attitudes of these extremists connected with the less explicit white male supremacy of white patriarchal American society and defined, in some respects, the attitude taken by U.S. occupation forces in Haiti toward the Haitian population. The resistance to this allegation was particularly fierce, and not merely from those inside the Special Operations “community,” whose outrage was more public-relations stagecraft than anything else. There was outrage from people who hadn’t a moment of actual experience in the military at all. This is an affront to something sacred in the public imaginary of a thoroughly militarized United States: that we are an international beacon of civilized virtue, and that our military is the masculine epitome of that virtue standing between our suburban security and the dark chaos of the Outside. Questioning the mystique of the armed forces is tantamount to lunacy at best and treason at worst. This is the reason bad-apple-ism has been the predominant meme of the media and the Pentagon when they are compelled to discuss the stories of torture, rape and murder in Iraq and Afghanistan. “A few bad apples” committed torture. “A few bad apples” raped prisoners, fellow female soldiers, and civilians in their homes. The massacre was not descriptive of the Marine Corps, but the work of “a few bad apples.” Anyone who wants to be the skunk at this prevarication party need only ask, “How do these bad apples all seem to aggregate into the same units?” One bad apple was dispensed with on June 11, 2001. That’s when Timothy McVeigh was given a lethal injection at 7 a.m. in the death chamber of the U.S. federal penitentiary at Terre Haute, Ind. Frugivorous analogies aside, McVeigh was not the product of a tree or poor storage, but of a culture. Raised in western New York by a devoutly Catholic father—an autoworker—after his parents divorced when he was 10, Tim McVeigh, like many other white youths who are socially awkward and living in times of economic insecurity, was already reading survivalist and white nationalist literature in his teens. The mythic-patriarchal absolutism of racial ideology mapped perfectly onto the consciousness of someone raised by a religiously devout male, and the fact that this ideology responded directly to the insecurities of economic and gender destabilization secured McVeigh as an early devotee. Gore Vidal said that McVeigh “needed a self-consuming cause to define him[self].” Vidal’s account, “The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh,” ominously printed in Vanity Fair just days before the 9/11 attacks expressed another “self-consuming cause,” noted that McVeigh took his cues from the very government he had worked for as a soldier. Before McVeigh’s attack in Oklahoma City, the most recent attack by Americans against Americans outside of warfare was the FBI-BATF massacre of an obscure religious commune that was demonized for destruction at Waco, Texas—which McVeigh memorialized by blowing up the Murrah Building on the Waco massacre’s second anniversary. When McVeigh was interviewed about the “collateral damage” in Oklahoma, he was asked if he felt remorse. He replied that Truman had never apologized for Hiroshima or Nagasaki. And the formative moment in Iraq for Tim McVeigh was the order by Major General Barry McCaffrey—the sociopath appointed by Bill Clinton to be the nation’s “drug czar”—to slaughter a seven-mile line of retreating Iraqi soldiers and civilians after the cease-fire in Iraq ... now called the Turkey Shoot. As the old military motto says, “Trained by the best, kill like the rest.” Much has been made of McVeigh’s affinity for “The Turner Diaries,” a neo-Nazi novel about a white nationalist guerrilla war in the U.S., written under pseudonym by the late William Pierce. Less often noted was another formative cultural product for McVey, “Red Dawn,” a silly film about American teenagers organizing an armed resistance to the Soviet occupation of the United States. While “silly” is a descriptive term for both these cultural products, we cannot assume they are irrelevant. Dig last updated on Oct. 3, 2006Advertisement
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By John Hanks, October 4, 2007 at 10:56 am # I appreciate all of your comments. I hope you are spending some time every day standing by the road with a left-wing sign or that you have some signs in the windows of your car. Don’t worry about being right. Just go ahead. How about: “Have you had your nose put to the wall today?” or “Hitler has to slap you in the face.”
By www.nazilieskill.us, October 3, 2007 at 7:57 pm # An important part of the Fascist mind is that it always conceives of things in terms of a game with winners and losers. These filth will soon find that they are dealing with an occupation - much like Iraq.
By Jay Mick, October 2, 2007 at 11:18 pm # Jay Mick, the revolutions creator, is back.
By John Hanks, October 1, 2007 at 6:19 am # Nazi crook tactics (the use of force and fraud) leads to helpless anger and fear and then demoralization. Only a habitual black hatred can cut through the knot.
By Annon, September 30, 2007 at 1:43 pm # 103559 by Pico on 9/29 at 9:25 pm “...it repeats, and it’s been playing out here for 6 years. 1993 to 2007 is 14 years!
By John Hanks, September 30, 2007 at 6:39 am # It’s on my list. I’m sure Kissinger figured prominently. We didn’t import all those Nazi at the end of World War II for nothing. Meanwhile, I just keep on signing.
By John Hanks, September 29, 2007 at 7:38 pm # It is still hard for me to admit that there is a distinct possibility that we might be murdered in our doorways or sent to a camp. (Any Republican camp would be a death camp because they are totally incompetent to even run one of those.) The only want to relate to this is to point out our fears to anyone who will listen and to taken an open stand against the filth while there is still time. Why are so many liberals still doing basically nothing? Surely they know about the history of the Third Reich at least, if not all the other dictators that have assailed this planet. Do they still think that it will blow over like a bad patch? The Nazis have infiltrated and subverted every worthwhile institution in this country. One never really knows personally, but I would rather die at the beginning than linger with such lazy worthless cowards until the end.
By John Hanks, September 26, 2007 at 8:14 pm # When Nazis take over, a death camp is as good a place to be as any other. Surely every Republican death camp will be so due to their total indifference to human suffering and their total incompetence. I’m going to keep up my roadside signing until they hall me off. These Nazis have worked tirelessly to take over a ship that will sink as long as the human race fails to develop and act on some smarts. We have a perfect storm of catastrophes coming, which can hardly be dealt with by bogus sermons and public relations campaigns. In every practical sense, these half baked fools have failed on every front, and everything they do is only to cover up a previous blunder. The Nazis didn’t last as long as the Weimer Republic they overthrew. They were done for as soon as they invaded Poland. I hope that happens in the same way to the filth that have stolen power here.
By John Hanks, September 20, 2007 at 9:23 am # I’m afraid that isn’t enough, though it is good prep. work. I expect a pretext that is more Hollywood. How about a terrible massacre Custer Style, or a excruciating terror attack here. The Battleship Maine and 911 show how easy a big show is to put together. The problem with all of this is that a lot of Boobus Americanus is getting suspicious, so the effect will be muted. There might not be as huge a display of American flags as before. However, I won’t be surprise too much by anything. Human weakness and gullibility is a pit without a bottom.
By www.nazilieskill.us, September 19, 2007 at 6:56 pm # My prejudices are Catholic. I pretty much hate all human groups from schools, to Baptists, to governments, and even to The National Model Railroad Association. All of them are like dirty fish tanks in which people swim about with not knowledge of all filth that surrounds them. The media is perhaps the worst human group of all. It fills our minds with 5th grade inanities all day long until they become hardened templates. They make our elections last for years so they can milk contributions, and of course they defend themselves with constant commissions and most omissions of information.
By John Hanks, September 19, 2007 at 2:16 pm # I guess we will find out what happens when crooks put together a protection racket, and then they find out that the whole neighborhood is pissed. When your crookery gets you to the point where you can only make your last nuclear play… Like I said, I knew I was dead when the filth killed the Wellstones so long aqo.
By Conservative Yankee, September 19, 2007 at 1:26 pm # 101340 by John Hanks on 9/19 at 9:23 am “There is nothing worse than an over-populated desert country that is running out of water and is ruled by crooks.” Like Nevada? Or Arizona? Sorry, couldn’t resist the temptation. Here in Maine we have plenty of fresh water, six major rivers crisscross the State… But the assholes who run the place have decided that the best use of this once clear fresh resource is to use it as a corporate dumping ground. So the
By John Hanks, September 19, 2007 at 9:23 am # There is just so little that we really know about AIPAC, Neocons, Zionists, and Jews. I suspect that if Jews do cover for the crooks in some way that it is much in the same way that Boston Irish covered for the IRA - not knowing just how crooked they were. I can understand why Zionists might pull some tricks to keep the defense swag flowing. After all, defense spending is always the mother load protection racket. Israel has plenty of nukes which gives it the “right to exist”, but it is in big trouble in every environmental way. There is nothing worse than an over-populated desert country that is running out of water and is ruled by crooks.
By John Hanks, September 18, 2007 at 12:22 pm # I would be glad to admit I was a traitor, or a communist of anything else, if I could just get one clear shot at one of them with a bayonet. Most Americans think Zionists are Israeli patriots, when they are really just vicious crooks. They managed to turn Israel into the perfect concentration camp.
By 1drees, September 18, 2007 at 10:27 am # God Help Humanity against the American-Zionist attack, i know that iraq, iran & others will Survive the Zionist attack but at a heavy human cost (so far) But I Wish the Americans Had done better and prevented slaughter of ordinary people in iraq and afghanistan. Good Luck to Humanity nless Zionism is eliminated. ZIONISTS:Ones who believe they are the “only” humans(God’s"Chosen ones")& rest is “Trash” to be consumed / used.
By John Hanks, September 18, 2007 at 5:32 am # I think this country is full of Wellstones without his energy and smarts. It is the duty of every crook to keep them demoralized and confused or, if necessary, dead. They’ve convinced America to go on H.L. Menckens political picnic so they can skip the hamburgers in preference for the flies.
By John Hanks, September 17, 2007 at 4:55 pm # Wow. You are a thinking person all right. Maybe that is the only thing that the Republican filth have given us. We sure have a lot to think about. A good combat soldier knows when he is dead, and I figured we were dead after they murdered the Wellstones so many years ago. We have been totally bushwacked by an army of rich traitors, so all we can do is fight and prolong the fight until it is finally over. I hate these scum to the depth of my soul, especially now that they are planning to start World War III to cover their tracks and fill their treasuries even more. At last all the Republican lynchings are coming home.
By www.nazilieskill.us, September 17, 2007 at 12:49 pm # There is a tiny bit of wisdom in Friedman’s philosophy, but how could anyone be so naieve as to ignore the fact that unfettered capitalism is quickly taken over by crooks. Then the crooks get rich on ever sort of found or man-made disaster. I agree with all of you.
By John Hanks, September 17, 2007 at 10:36 am # Michael, Let me apologize in advance for submitting part of an article which I sent in to Thomas Paine. I think it is possible to win a “revolution” through developing a nation with smarts. In a funny way, the Reagan coup came about because of some dumb delusions. Perhaps a nation with smarts would act like an immune system. By smarts, I don’t mean schooling of course. .09.17.07 > Article for Thomas Paine Crooks, Suckers, and Lazy Cowards But, I digress.
By John Hanks, September 17, 2007 at 10:13 am # Michael, Why don’t you draw a clear line in the sand, and then defend your side, when we try to cross it?
By John Hanks, September 17, 2007 at 5:49 am # Children, children. What is it with the squabbling and righteous indignation? There are no righteous people on this planet including both of you.
By FFURKS, September 17, 2007 at 4:18 am # 100769 by Michael Shaw on 9/16 at 4:54 pm “Well FFurks it takes two to argue about nothing. You initially jumped into my post not vice versa. I merely answered it and now I’m jumping at conclusions. Well I guess so since beyond you obvious disinterest in country and people, I know very little about with whom I’m speaking or why you’ve drawn these conclusions.” See, you have it wrong yet again. I have no “argument” with you… Can’t, don’t know you. I WAS involved in what I thought was a dialog. As to “jumping in to your post” Silly me, I thought that was what this board was about. I won’t “bother” you again.
By John Hanks, Laramie, Wyoming, September 16, 2007 at 5:09 pm # I guess I’m as confused as Michael Shaw seems to be, but I can still follow the drift of things. Michael brought up the subject of revolution, but I’m afraid that that is almost impossible. If the Bushies destroy our institutions, they won’t come back because the destruction will be approved by the crooks, suckers and lazy cowards that make up our population. We could have an insurgency that might last for many years, but is a permanent war worth it? Look at Israel. They have been at war since 1948 (at least) and now they are almost completely ruled by crooks and paranoids.
By John Hanks, Laramie, Wyoming, September 16, 2007 at 3:19 pm # It looks like the Bush filth are about to save us from the Mullahs of Iran. They especially like the idea of either nuking us or nuking Iran to get the vicious farce started. Bush still has a long way to catch up to Hitler, but with nukes he might just get there. Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuherer Add Your Comment |
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